King Philip Lunch has the recipe for longevity

Peter Hiotelis is the kind of merchant who still, on warm days, might be found standing on the sidewalk in front of his store, taking the air, waiting for customers and, as he puts it, “shooting the baloney.”Hiotelis, 81, has operated King Philip Lunch, at the corner of King Philip and South...

Peter Hiotelis is the kind of merchant who still, on warm days, might be found standing on the sidewalk in front of his store, taking the air, waiting for customers and, as he puts it, “shooting the baloney.”

Hiotelis, 81, has operated King Philip Lunch, at the corner of King Philip and South Main streets, for 60 years. He started the business with his dad. He sells hot dogs.

“You better be careful,” Peter Hiotelis will say to a neighborhood woman walking a small dog past his store. “I’ll put him on the grill.”

It’s a hot-dog man’s joke and Hiotelis is a hot-dog man.

So much a hot-dog man is he that he will frequently interrupt customers who, in his opinion, might be choosing unsuitable toppings for their weiner.

“Mustard, relish and sauce,” Hiotelis said, listing a classic dog-topping combo. “A guy will ask for that and a little ketchup and some onions and I’ll tell him ‘You’re killing my hot dog!’”